What You Need to Know about Ankle Bruising

What does ankle bruising mean? How concerned should you be if you see bruising on your ankle?

In most cases, bruising means you’ve had a fairly serious ankle injury. So when you see bruising, that gives you good cause for concern.

However, you can experience ankle bruising without a serious ankle injury. Typically, this happens when you’re over 60.

It could simply be the result of exercising too strenuously, not getting enough vitamin C, taking blood thinners, or a condition called purpuric dermatosis (a skin problem caused by damage to your blood vessels).

If you find yourself experiencing bruising around your ankles, and it’s not due to an obvious exercise-related sprain, then it’s a wise move to seek professional medical help.

If Your Bruising Is the Result of a Serious Ankle Injury

Most ankle bruising, however, results from spraining your ankle. And the bruising indicates you’ve had at least a medium-intensity injury, and possibly a serious one.

Generally, you can tell the seriousness of your ankle injury by the intensity of the pain you feel.

Whether to see your podiatrist about your ankle sprain is your call. You may or may not be able to heal from the injury on your own.

If you experience any of the following, then you probably have a serious ankle injury and should talk to your podiatrist:

• Hearing a pop or snap, or feeling a tearing sensation means you most likely tore a ligament and may need surgery. You undoubtedly need professional medical help.
• If you can’t put any weight on your ankle when trying to walk because of the pain.
• Resting and icing your ankle doesn’t seem to help it heal.
• If your ankle feels weak or unstable.
• If you have signs of an infection or a fever greater than 100°.

Treatment for a Severe Ankle Sprain

Assuming your ankle bruising did in fact result from a severe ankle sprain, you’ll need to follow a treatment regimen to get back to normal.

That regimen, however, varies depending on the severity and damage to your ankle. It could be a combination of:

• RICE – Rest, ice, compression, and elevation
• Over-the-counter pain relievers
• Various devices, such as crutches, a walking boot, elastic bandages, or an ankle brace
• Professional physical therapy or your own program you can work at home
• Surgery

The important thing is that you seek professional medical help when needed.

That can be either when your ankle is clearly severely sprained, or if the bruising just seems to appear on its own with no obvious accidental cause.

Take care of it as soon as you can because that prevents so many more problems later on.